A relatively small apparatus employing a process for the aerobic treatment of contaminated liquids, has been the subject matter of many proposals, particularly in light of increasingly restrictive specifications for acceptable pollution control in the effluent from domestic and industrial sewage treatment apparatuses. The difficulty lies in achieving small-scale sewage treatment apparatuses, since they are frequently overwhelmed by sudden inflows of water or other liquids which are beyond the capacity of the system to handle. Of course, the systems must be designed for a given upper limit of fluid treatment in mind, but this should be as small as reasonably possible, otherwise the system is built to overcapacity. The difficulty comes on those rare occasions (because of coincidence of several events), when there is a sudden inflow of water for treatment by the process and apparatus which is beyond its normal capacity. In this event the prior art systems become overtaxed and require special reconditioning for further operation.
Many small-scale sewage treatment apparatuses for domestic and industrial use, contemplate the fabricating of the apparatus at the proposed site of use. This requires a crew of skilled assemblers and fabricators, entailing added expense in the way of installation, material shipment, etc.
In still other domestic and industrial water or other liquid treatment systems, there is no ready means for providing an efficient system of sensors whereby the operation can be continuously self-monitored so that in the event any portion of the system requires bypassing or cleaning for more efficient operation, such adjustments in flow and self-cleaning can be effected.
The overall technical problem which has thus far challenged the art, is the constructing and use of a modular type system which can be standardized and enlarged or contracted in capacity and fabricated from standard corrugated, curvilinear cross section pipe which is compartmentalized into surge tank, aeration chamber, clarifier, rapid sand filter, clear well and chlorinator tank, with the respective operations so interrelated that at least a portion of each discrete subsection is always in condition for operation, the overall system is continuously self-monitored, and fluid is thus routed for the most efficient operation.
In the aerobic treatment of contaminated liquid, provision must be made for the efficient mechanical and chemical dissolution of solid waste product which needs to be aerobically reduced and removed from the liquid phase portion. Removal occurs by way of filtration as well as chemical reduction, in a series of steps which are calculated to ultimately remove the contaminants from the liquid treated. Since the treatment scheme of contaminant removal must be geared to both variable flow and variable degree of contamination, the apparatus must be either complexly constructed or face an inevitable self-fouling as the liquid passes through the successive steps of aerobic treatment.